His College Career Has Been Hit or Miss : Football: Former Servite standout Josh Nelson keeps his chin up despite losing starting quarterback job at Mississippi.

When Mississippi football fans gather to tailgate in The Grove, a 10-acre plot shaded by large oak trees in the center of the Oxford campus, they recall the glory days of former quarterbacks such as Charlie Conerly, Jake Gibbs and, of course, Archie Manning.

It has not been easy for any of the quarterbacks who have followed Manning, who led the Rebels to an 8-3 record and a Sugar Bowl victory over Arkansas in 1969 as a junior.

Ask John Fourcade, or Kent Austin, even though they rank ahead of Manning now among the school’s top career passers.

Even Manning’s son, Peyton, chose not to follow in his father’s footsteps, deciding instead to play at Tennessee, a snub that left Ole Miss fans disappointed and many still unforgiving.

It’s even more difficult for a quarterback in a program trying to regroup after being slapped with probation following an NCAA investigation that cast out longtime coach Billy Brewer.

Josh Nelson, the former Servite High and Fullerton College quarterback, was plopped down in the middle of all that.

But for a guy who didn’t play quarterback until his senior year at Servite, and had few choices to continue playing other than at Fullerton College after high school, Nelson did about as well as anyone had a right to expect in the 1994 season, though the team was 4-7.

He passed for 2,028 yards, with only six interceptions in his first season at Ole Miss as a junior. He threw 145 consecutive passes without an interception at one stage of the season, breaking a 10-year school record set by Austin, and his 15 touchdowns were second only to Conerly’s school-record 18 in 1947.

This year, however, has been more of a struggle.

“Things haven’t gone as well as I hoped they would for me, but sometimes those things happen,” Nelson said.

Transition years normally are never easy.

Tommy Tuberville, the former Miami and Texas A&M; assistant, was brought in to rebuild the program after a year under interim coach Joe Dunn. Dunn took over when Brewer was fired three weeks before the 1994 season began.

With a new coach and a new offense, the Rebels showed some early promise in an 18-10 victory over Georgia and a 2-1 record after three games.

“I also thought I had played pretty well in the opening game against Auburn, even though we got killed [46-13],” Nelson said.

But a series of injuries to an already-thin offensive line started to take a toll.

Nelson suffered as much as anyone. He was sacked nine times over a three-game span and was rushing his passes. The offense began to falter.

At the same time, Nelson’s top receiver, Ta’Boris Fisher also was troubled by injuries.

“Losing our starting left tackle really hurt,” Nelson said. “But I had one or two off-games too, and I wasn’t as consistent as I needed to be right then.”

When the offense faltered with Nelson at quarterback in the first half of the Vanderbilt game, Tuberville decided to give his backup, junior Paul Head, a chance in the second half. The offense came to life with three touchdowns, and Mississippi won, 21-10.

The following week Nelson learned from a television interviewer that Tuberville was going to start Head in the Memphis game. Nelson couldn’t help but be surprised.

“We made a decision to go with the younger player because we wanted to give him some training to get him ready for next year, but Josh has played in both the last two games even though he hasn’t started,” Tuberville said. “He’s still had a good season.”

Nelson’s Ole Miss career will end Saturday against Mississippi State. Tuberville says Nelson will play, although Head probably will be the starter.

“I really wish Josh had another year,” Tuberville said. “We went to a passing offense this year, and we really didn’t have the offensive line to handle the pure dropback game. That’s been unfortunate for him.

“He’s been tremendously loyal to the team, and everyone on the team really respects him.”

Nelson said he isn’t bitter.

“I guess you’re always going to have some regrets in almost any situation,” Nelson said. “If I thought about it all the time, I’d be walking around with one of those rain clouds over my head, and I don’t want that to happen.

“But I’ve had some good games, and I’ve been able to play in some incredible places in the Southeast Conference. There have been a lot of really good things happen to me in the last two years.”

The Rebels go into the Mississippi State game with a 5-5 record (the Bulldogs are 3-7), and Nelson wants to see the team go out a winner more than anything else at this point.

Nelson also has been invited to play in the Blue-Gray college all-star game, and he still might have a chance to give pro football a shot.

Even though this season hasn’t been what Nelson hoped it would be, he still has passed for 1,675 yards and nine touchdowns. He has completed 57% of his passes with only six interceptions.

His 24 touchdown passes over two seasons are more than any quarterback in school history has had during a two-year span.

He ranks sixth among the school’s top career passers, and if he can somehow pass for 141 yards Saturday, he would finish fifth, just a rung below Manning.

At this stage, Nelson can only hope he gets the chance to finish with a flourish.